The temporal and spatial characteristics of the surface air temperature variations over the Antarctic and its surrounding area

The characteristics of the spatial distribution, temporal variations trend and oscillation for the surface air temperature variations during 1957—1993 in the Antarctic and its surrounding area were analyzed. The results show that the short-time climate change in the Antarctic is complex both temporally and spatially. The Antarctic is by no means the strongest responding region to the global greenhouse effect. There is a distinguished difference in the trends of the temperature changes for the Antarctic and global mean, which could not be explained simply by the global greenhouse effect. Project supported by the National Antarctic Key Project of China (85-905).